One of the critical items verified during US Navy testing at sea is the ability of the vessel sensors to maintain track continuity in the presence of splashes generated by Naval Gun Fire, within the vicinity of the target(s). Multiple aspects of Naval testing, such as Layered Defense Exercises, Track Correlation, Optical Sight/Video Tracker evaluation, and Electronic Warfare require evaluating performance in a splash environment. To accomplish this task, various types of live ordinances may be used as a function of the type of mission and sensors being evaluated. Each type of round generates a splash whose characteristics in terms of size, shape, and height are unique to that round.
The use of live rounds to evaluate sensor performance is a very expensive approach due to the associated hourly cost of Navy ship/Crew at sea, as well as the cost of ordnance and safety vessels to support such effort.
It would thus be desirable to develop a system that enables ordnance splash testing to be conducted for US and FMS Navy vessels. The desired system should enable splash testing to be performed safely at sea or near port, with minimal impact on surrounding people and vessels.